Telling Him
by Anjirika
Summary: –Drabble– What should have happened after the indoor balcony scene in ‘TRW’ –PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!


Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me- although I wish they did- I am merely borrowing them for the time being...

Stargate Atlantis

Season III

Spoilers for Episode 6- The Real World

Ending Tag

**Telling Him**

Elizabeth stood on the balcony over looking the Atlantean Stargate with her fathers' watch in one hand and her cup of coffee in the other. For her, it felt monumentally better to be back in the real world, and yet she still couldn't quite shake off the coldness that the nanites had left inside her.

'If it hadn't been for John-' Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat at the thought of John and what he had done for her. 'I never mentioned- I never told him how-' She left her thoughts hanging in mid sentence as she left the balcony and caught up to John as he was descending down the stairs. "John?" She called out stopping him in his tracks. He looked up at her and her breath caught once again in her throat. 'He saved me,' She thought to herself as she looked at him. 'He risked it all, for me...'

"Yeah?" He asked, his voice and demeanor void of the usual cocky, fly-boy attitude that she usually saw in him.

'When did he become so stoic?' She asked herself before she realized that he was waiting for her to continue.

"Elizabeth?" He asked, growing concerned that she was going to collapse before him again, and he shuddered at the thought.

She was in her office, reading reports. He was at the doorway when he saw her suddenly collapse and the moment she did his heart stopped.

"Could I speak to you for a moment?" She asked slightly nervous at the prospect of what she was going to say to him. John picked up on this emotion and nodded immediately.

"Sure."

He ascended up the stairs and follower through the control room, to her office, where she placed the coffee cup and her fathers watch on her desk before following her out onto the balcony that they usually had their private chats on. They both instantly gravitated to their own respective places- John to the left and Elizabeth to the right.

"So-" John began softly breaking the ice, slightly embarrassed because he knew where this conversation was going and he didn't need to hear her say what she was clearly going to say.

"I wanted to thank you." Elizabeth began suddenly as she clasped her hands together, her voice steady.

"Thank me?" John asked, playing dumb. Even though he knew it wouldn't work with Elizabeth. "For what?"

"For saving my life." Elizabeth stated simply, clearly embarrassed herself now.

"Ah," John sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a futile attempt to brush his actions off. "It was nothing."

"No, it was more than nothing." Elizabeth countered, her voice clear and serious. "It was something,"

"Elizabeth..."

"John," Elizabeth pleaded, wanting to say what she wanted to say. "I'm serious. I couldn't have done it with out you."

"Sure you could have." John argued, once again downplaying his role in her recovery. "You are a very strong person. You were already fighting them long before I breached the quarantine."

"I was only fighting because something-someone was haunting me." Elizabeth explained, her voice softening as she thought back to her experience. "A fuzzy figure, a familiar voice, and an extremely urgent sense that I needed to get back to Atlantis..." Elizabeth paused and looked John squarely in the eyes. "It was you John."

"Really?"

"Yes really. If it hadn't been for you-" She shuddered at the thought of how she almost had given up. "I almost gave up, I almost let them win." She explained. "Yet something deep inside me told me to keep fighting- yet still there was doubt. I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't and yet..." She shook her head to get her thoughts under control. "Even in the end, when I was fighting as hard as I could you- you appeared John. You appeared and told me what was going on-"

"You heard me?" John asked, quite shocked that Elizabeth could hear him even in her coma-like state.

"Yes." Elizabeth confirmed. "Yes I heard you the entire time! But I wasn't sure who it was that was calling me until you breached the quarantine-" Elizabeth paused and realized fully what he had done for her. The only thing she couldn't figure out was why he had done it. "Why did you breech the quarantine?"

"Oh, well... I just figured since you were fighting as hard as you could, you needed some extra support." John explained leaning against the railing of the balcony. "I figured that it would do you good to know that you weren't alone...that you would never be alone."

"And you risked getting infected to give me that?" Elizabeth asked, stunned at his admission and when he nodded, confirming what he had said. "Why?"

"Why?" John asked, his heart stopping and his mind racing.

"Why?" She asked again point blank, her emotions starting to get the better of her once again. "Why did you do it? If I had- Atlantis would have needed you- and yet you still..."

"I did it because I couldn't-" John paused and winced at his slip. He took a breath in and began again. "-because we couldn't loose you."

"I see..." Elizabeth whispered as she let her sentence trail off. She turned to look out at the sea.

He hadn't said what she thought he would say, but still the words didn't mean anything to Elizabeth, she could tell what he meant underneath the words and she knew in her heart that between them, words were not that important. She took another moment to collect her thoughts before she turned back to John. They stared at each other for a few brief moments before both John was overcome with the urge to hug her- just to make sure that she was real. And she was.

Elizabeth was slightly taken aback by this gesture, because it was highly out of character for John, but as she wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug- she realized that for John this was his way of explaining it all. And for that alone, she knew how deep their connection ran.

"Thank you." She whispered into his ear as she hugged him a little tighter.

"You're welcome."

Fin

A/N- Okay all! I absolutely LOVED 'The Real World'! It is the most Sparky-centric episode ever and I thought that it was brilliant and totally well done! Never before in my mind has this ship been so cemented (I mean, I called it all the way back in 38 minutes and even a little in Rising but still...). It was a totally perfect episode and I hope that this Tag gave it that little extra Sparkyness that we were all hoping for! Look forward to more Sparky fics in the future because this cast (and especially those two) are so easy to write about!


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